Say hello to Dean

As expected, a tropical depression well out in the open Atlantic strengthened into Tropical Dean yesterday. The storm is nearly 1,400 miles east of the Lesser Antilles as of this writing so won't be of any potential concern to the United States for many days, but we should keep an eye on it.

The big question about Dean at present is whether it will eventually curve northward and remain out to sea, but as the five-day cone above shows, it's more likely that it will visit the East Coast at some point in the future. At least that's how it looks now.

Meanwhile, another tropical depression has formed, this time in the western Gulf of Mexico. On the maps it appears quite unimpressive, and should it strengthen to named tropical storm status it will very quickly come ashore along the southern Texas coast.

Hurricane Flossie toyed with the Hawaiian islands yesterday. Here's a video link to an on-the-scene report from the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore, to give you some idea of how the Aloha State's been coping. For our money, Cantore is and has long been the best meteorologist on television. He's passionate, he's knowledgable, and it's a pleasure to watch someone like that do their job.

Closer to home, we're getting to that point on the calendar when the heat of summer begins to wear down and lose its enthusiasm. Judging from the forecast, we'll be there soon. But today temperatures will approach 90 as a weak cold front slides through. Chances of rain are slight, just 20 percent, so if you don't want to be bothered with hauling an umbrella around today you'll probably be safe.

A stronger cold front will arrive on Thursday, providing us with a stronger chance of stronger storms late that afternoon.

Yesterday's extreme temperatures in the contiguous United States --- High: 119 at Death Valley, Calif.; Low: 27 at Swan Lake, Mont.